Boy on rocks FOUR MEMBERS of the 1LB crew were working at Tramore pier, Co. Waterford, close by the boathouse at 7 p.m. on June 28, 1973, when a youth came up, greatly agitated, to tell them that a boy had been trapped on a small rock islet about five yards off shore in Ronan's Bay to the west of Great Newtown Head, some two miles from the lifeboat station.

A launch was authorised, maroons were fired and the ILB, manned by Mr Frank Partridge, Mr David Kenneally and Mr Sean Walsh, was launched within five minutes. Visibility was very good, but with a force 6, south-westerly wind, gusting 7, and the tide at half flood a heavy sea and swell had built up in the vicinity of Great Newtown Head, so that the passage had to be made at reduced speed.

The ILB arrived near the islet within ten minutes to find the boy as close tothe water as he could get on the eastern side, with the breaking sea and backwash from the swell as it passed submerging him from the waist down.

Although the rocks on the mainland cliff were only about five yards away, the sea had built up to such a degree and was 'funnelling' down the small sound between the islet and mainland so violently that it would have been quite impossible for the boy to swim ashore.

Mr Frank Partridge, who was at the helm, decided to approach the islet from the north east, hoping by heading directly into the sea to get some lee from the islet. He ordered the two other crew members to get well forward so that, when the moment came, they could easily grab for the outstretched arm of the stranded boy and haul him aboard.

A very careful watch had to be kept on the sea, which was breaking through the narrow sound very violently at times, the conditions aggravated by the backwash on the lee side of the islet.

At the first approach the coxswain was carefully nursing the ILB throttle, trying to judge the moment to go alongside the islet between seas, when, within a few feet of the boy's position, the ILB was thrown clear by a large sea.

The boat was immediately turned, taken back to relatively calmer water and then brought in again on the same course, but with no better result.

On the third attempt, the helmsman used a little more throttle, timing his approach between breaking seas. As the ILB came close to the boy, the bow was swung to port, the boat held momentarily in position by quick use of stern power and the boy hauled aboard by Mr David Kennealiy just before another large sea literally threw the ILB back into open water clear of the islet.The boy, who had been stranded on the rock for two hours and was suffering from slight exposure and shock, was made as comfortable as possible and the ILB returned to Tramore harbour within five minutes.

For this rescue the thanks of the Institution inscribed on vellum have been awarded to Helmsman Frank Partridge, Mr Kenneally and Mr Walsh..